Also, even if standard length cartridges are used exclusively, there are some bullet shapes such as Keith and Keith-style which will not feed and chamber through all. The Marlins and the 1892 replicas are quite picky about cartridge length.Īnother thing to consider is whether one will be shooting mostly jacketed bullets or cast bullets, or even the relatively new powder-coated bullets. 45 leverguns and have loaded dummy cartridges from 200-grain to 340-grain weights - and more - and use these dummies to make a GO/NO GO chart which tells me exactly which loads will work through which action. I have considerable experience over the past 40 years with all action styles and lengths of. 45 Colt cartridge will feed and chamber in a Winchester Model 1894, while the others require shorter cartridges. One also has to decide whether loads will use longer, heavier bullets or be confined to standard length cartridges.Īlmost any length of. More modern versions of the 18 Winchesters as well as the Marlins and Henry Big Boy will handle heavier loads than the original Winchesters. Copies of the original three Winchesters are basically for standard loads only. 45 Colt levergun, it is necessary to decide just what one expects from the choice. 45 Colt brass shows a thicker rim and also a moat-like recess cut around the base of the cartridge case, in front of the rim, which helps to give more area for the extractor to grasp.īefore choosing a. The rim was very thin and not much larger in diameter than the base of the case, which meant there was not much for the extractor to grip. 45 Colt.Īnother problem was the design of the. This design results in a cartridge which feeds through the action of a levergun much easier and smoother than a straight-wall cartridge such as the. The former is a tapered cartridge, meaning it’s almost a. Why not? One of the possibilities is the differences between the. Now you would think Winchester would reciprocate and chamber the model 1873 in. Colt followed suit and chambered the Single Action Army in these two cartridges. Winchester also soon offered the Model 1873 in two other new cartridges, the. Now shooters could have a rifle and revolver chambered in the same centerfire cartridge which was quite a bit more powerful than earlier rimfire cartridges. This did not go unnoticed by Colt and by 1878 they were offering the Single Action Army chambered in. 44 WCF (Winchester Center Fire), or as it is mostly known today the. Starting with the Model 1873, Winchester used a cartridge that was basically sixgun length - the. The first Winchester lever-action rifle - Model 1866 - used the rimfire.